This issue of "Policy Notes" concerns the restructuring of American education during the past quarter-century, with centralization and legalization being the two most noteworthy changes in educational governance. David Kirp claims that the increased control of schooling by state and federal authorities, the elaboration of new…

This collection of short articles addresses several issues. The first article briefly discusses the growing lack of confidence in schools, with a glance at the role of the mass media. The second article, an interview on the same topic, looks at the state's loss of credibility regarding education and other areas in the United States and other…

This issue of "Policy Notes" examines some of the issues surrounding research dissemination, or the means by which policy-makers become aware of and assimilate research knowledge. The articles in this issue provide added perspectives to the findings of an Institute for Research on Educational Finance and Governance (IFG) survey, in three states,…